Frame coupling



12, 1969 H. SCHMIDLIN 3,460,306

I FRAME COUPLING Filed Dec. 14, 1967 FIG.I

FIG.3

INVENTOR,

gout Tpss A TTORNE Y s Schmidlin 3,460,306 FRAME COUPLING I-Ians Schmidlin, Aesch, Switzerland, assignor to Firina Eltreva AG, Aesch, Switzerland, a corporation of Switzerland Filed Dec. 14, 1967, Ser. No. 690,446 Claims priority, applicatiog 6G5e3rmany, Mar. 22, 1967,

Int. Cl. Ec 9/00,"E06b 3/00, 3/54 U.S. Cl. 52732 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE ribs.

My present invention relates to a composite frame structure for windows, doors and the like wherein a profiled frame, generally of metal, is to be releasably secured to a supporting sash, e.g. of wood, for the purpose of clamping panels, glass panes or the like therebetween.

The general object of my invention is to provide a frame structure of this description which can be conveniently assembled and disassembled and which does not require any slotting or other machining of its profiled frame members so that the latter can be produced by a continuous process such as extrusion or rolling.

A more particular object of this invention is to provide improved coupling means for securely holding the profiled frame members against their supports with compensation for any existing tolerances.

These objects are realized, pursuant to my invention, by the provision of a pair of hooked and pivotally interconnected levers, one of these levers being fulcrumed on the supporting member of the sash whereas the other lever is articulated to the first lever andis in turn engaged by a screw or other securing means tending to swing the two levers about their respective pivots. With their hooks facing in opposite directions, the levers are thus brought to bear upon respective abutment formations of the profiled member into which they have been introduced; these formations may be a pair of parallel reentrant ribs which lie in planes perpendicular to a flange of the profile serving to clamp a window pane or the like against the sash.

The invention will be described in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a profiled frame member and an associated supporting member forming part of a frame structure according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a side View of the assembly of FIG. 1, taken partly in section on the line IIII thereof; and

FIG. 3 is a top view of the assembly, taken partly in section on the line III-III of FIG. 1.

The frame structure shown in the drawing, of which only one side has been illustrated since the three other sides may be identically constructed, comprises a wooden sash member 1 supporting a profiled metallic frame member 16, the latter having a flange 26 for holding a glass pane 27 against the front face 2 of sash member 1. This front face is cylindrically recessed at 3 to accommodate a housing 5 which comprises a substantially circular bottom disk 4 and spaced-apart side walls 28 terminating hired States Patent 6 3,460,306 Patented Aug. 12, 1969 in outwardly bent lugs 6 that overlie the face 2 and are secured to member 1 by screws 7. A yoke-shaped lever 22, advantageously of synthetic resin, is pivotally mounted on the sash member 1 by means of a pin 29 secured to housing walls 28; the bight portion 23 of this lever forms a hook designed to come to rest on a reentrant rib 25 on a leg 24 of profiled frame member 16, this rib lying in a plane perpendicular to flange 26 and being parallel to another re-entrant rib 19 on a leg 18 of the frame member which rests on the sash face 2. A second lever 8 of similar plastic material, with a hookshaped extremity 21 facing in the opposite direction with reference to hook 23 of lever 22, bears upon the rib 19 and the profile. A pivot pin 9 articulatedly interconnects the two levers, with the second lever 8 straddled by the arms of the first lever 22. The free end 10 of lever 8 has a threaded bore 11 engaged by a tensioning screw 12 which passes through a slot 30 in a lug 31 rigid with housing base 4; leg 24 of profiled frame 16, carrying the rib 25, rests on this lug.

If the screw 12 is so rotated as to draw lever end 10 closer to lug 31, lever 8 swings clockwise (as viewed in FIG. 1) whereas lever 22 swings counterclockwise so that their respective hooks 21, 23 bear firmly upon the ribs 19, 25 of the profile. Since lever 8 has two degrees of freedom, the articulated lever system 8, 22 can compensate for possible tolerances between the two elongate frame members 1, 16.

Making the two levers, 8, 22 of plastic material, preferably a low-friction resin such as Teflon, has the advantage of smooth operation and resistance to atmospheric influences; thus, no maintenance will be necessary and the coupling device will be practically noiseless in use.

I claim:

1. In a frame structure, in combination, a profiled frame member, a supporting member for said profiled frame member, the latter being provided with a pair of spaced-apart abutment formations, a first lever pivotally mounted on said supporting member, a second lever articulated to said first lever, said levers having respective extremities with oppositely directed hooks each engageable with one of said abutment formations upon introduction of said extremities into the profile of said frame member, and securing means on said supporting member engageable with said second lever for maintainlng said hooks in positive contact with said abutment formations.

2. A frame structure as defined in claim 1 wherein said first lever is pivoted to said supporting member at an end thereof opposite its hooked extremity, said second lever being pivotally connected to said first lever at a location between said end and said hooked extremity thereof.

3. A frame structure as defined in claim 2 wherein said second lever has a free end opposite its hooked extremity, said securing means engaging said free end.

4. A frame structure as defined in claim 3 wherein said setglring means comprises a screw threaded into said free en 5. A frame structure as defined in claim 3 wherein said first lever is yoke-shaped and straddles said second lever.

6. A frame structure as defined in claim 1 wherein said profiled frame member consists of metal, said supporting member consisting of wood, said lever consisting of synthetic resin.

7. A frame structure as defined in claim 1 wherein said profiled frame member has a projecting flange for clamping a window pane against said supporting member, said abutment formations being re-entrant ribs which lie in planes perpendicular to said flange.

(References on following page) References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Frazier 52476 Mishoe 52499 Katz 52-500 Himmel et a1 52500 Donald 292-6 X FOREIGN PATENTS.

830,309 3/1960 Great Britain.

ALFRED C. PERHAM, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

